Wildfires burn over 110,000 acres in Texas

BETSY BLANEY / Associated Press Published: February 28, 2011 3:35 AM

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — Wildfires have burned more than 110,000 acres and destroyed nearly 70 homes after a dry, windy day in West Texas.

Texas Forest Service spokesman Lewis Kearney (KAR’-nee) says the agency’s firefighting aircraft, which were grounded Sunday due to the strong winds, are expected to fly Monday.

Kearney says 68 homes have been destroyed, with 10 in Colorado City and the rest in the Amarillo area. He says firefighters had a “busy night,” and that there is still a high risk of fire in the Midland, Abilene, Panhandle and Lubbock areas.

A traffic accident on the smoke-blanketed Interstate 20 near Midland killed a 5-year-old girl on Sunday. One firefighter suffered second-degree burns in a blaze near Colorado City, about 250 miles west of Dallas.